Blackridge railway station

For the railway station in Queensland, Australia, see Blackridge railway station, Queensland.

Blackridge railway station is a railway station on the North Clyde Line. It serves the town of Blackridge in West Lothian, Scotland.

Blackridge Scottish Gaelic: An Druim Dubh[1]
Blackridge station, looking west towards Caldercruix
General information
Location	Blackridge, West Lothian Scotland
Coordinates	55.8844°N 3.7502°W / 55.8844; -3.7502
Grid reference	NS895667
Managed by	ScotRail
Platforms	2
Other information
Station code	BKR
Classification	DfT category F2
Key dates
12 December 2010	Opened[2]
Passengers
2019/20	57,178
2020/21	6,522
2021/22	27,086
2022/23	37,282
2023/24	48,902
Notes Passenger statistics from the Office of Rail and Road

History

The original station in this locale was called Westcraigs, built by the Bathgate and Coatbridge Railway. It was also the site of a junction with the Wilsontown, Morningside and Coltness Railway. Opened on 11 August 1862,^[3] in some timetables the station was called Westcraigs for Harthill.^[3] The station closed on 9 January 1956.

Opening

Platform 2 on the day of opening

Blackridge was originally excluded from the Airdrie–Bathgate rail link project, but after a three-year campaign by the local community, funding was approved by the Scottish Government at a cost of £5 million. Private housing developer Manorlane agreed to fund 40% of the costs. However, it closed and the funding promise expired. West Lothian Council agreed to take on the burden and expects to recoup the cost from additional expansion in the area.^[4] The station opened on 12 December 2010 on a new site, some 600 metres closer to Edinburgh than the previous Westcraigs station.^[2]

Services

The station has a basic half-hourly off-peak service Mondays to Sundays, westbound to Airdrie, Queen St Low Level and Milngavie and eastbound to Bathgate and Edinburgh Waverley. In the evenings and on Sundays the westbound terminus is Helensburgh Central rather than Milngavie.^[5]

Preceding station	National Rail			Following station
Armadale		ScotRail North Clyde Line		Caldercruix

References

Notes

1. Brailsford 2017, Gaelic/English Station Index.
2. "New £300m Airdrie-Bathgate rail link re-opens". BBC News. 12 December 2010. Retrieved 12 December 2010.
3. Butt (1995), p. 245
4. "Blackridge station go-ahead". Modern Railways. 65 (723). Ian Allan Publishings. December 2008.
5. Table 226 National Rail timetable, May 2016

Sources

• Brailsford, Martyn, ed. (December 2017) [1987]. Railway Track Diagrams 1: Scotland & Isle of Man (6th ed.). Frome: Trackmaps. ISBN 978-0-9549866-9-8.
• Butt, R. V. J. (October 1995). The Directory of Railway Stations: details every public and private passenger station, halt, platform and stopping place, past and present (1st ed.). Sparkford: Patrick Stephens Ltd. ISBN 978-1-85260-508-7. OCLC 60251199. OL 11956311M.
• Jowett, Alan (March 1989). Jowett's Railway Atlas of Great Britain and Ireland: From Pre-Grouping to the Present Day (1st ed.). Sparkford: Patrick Stephens Ltd. ISBN 978-1-85260-086-0. OCLC 22311137.
• West Craigs station on navigable OS map

External links

• Media related to Blackridge railway station at Wikimedia Commons